First of all, what happened to this young person is sad and evil. It's wrong to kill people.

That said, Jamaica is not nearly as homophobic of a country as many seem to think. I have several openly gay and lesbian neighbors. New Kingston is full of gay people, some in the business sector, and some who work as prostitutes and thieves. There have been many prominent homosexuals in soceity over the years as well. Like in most countries, most people in JA are pretty live-and-let-live. The unfortunate situation in Mobay wasn't just because the young man was gay, rather that he was attending a party of that type, dancing with men under the pretense of being a woman. You mix overly sexual dancing, drugs and alcohol, macho behavior, and people upset with being deceived, and these kind of things can happen. It doesn't excuse those who killed him, but it's an unfortunate reality of a society which is plagued with many problems including violence that crosses all social spheres, drugs and alcohol, an increasing lack of sexual morality among any preferences, etc. The problem of violence effects everyone, not just people of one orientation

As for Queen Ifrica, she never encouraged violence towards anyone. She should be allowed to speak her mind as much as groups like Jflag or JFJ are allowed to.I will say this about Ifrica, she is one of the few modern culture artists who's willing to talk her truth even when it's unpopular. In an age when most "culture" artists sing about partying, badmind, and recycling old cliches, Ifrica is an artist who is always going to say what she feels is right, like it or not.

What can solve any of the problems in JA (or any other country for that matter)? The easiest answer would be education and opportunity. Many people feel their only opportunities are to follow the negative influences in the society as opportunities in the positive are often limited. America has lots of issues with how minorities are treated before they start pointing the finger at JA though, Compared to the United States, Jamaica is an incredibly tolerant and accepting place overall.

Thanks for sharing Dr. Seuss. It good to hear that it's not as bad as it is made out to be.

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